Obama staying out of negotiations on gun bills

ASSOCIATED PRESS

March 9, 2013 12:01 AM

FILE - In this March 4, 2013 file photo, President Barack Obama speaks in the East Room of the White House in Washington. Obama is playing down expectations for a Mideast peace breakthrough during his upcoming trip to Israel, telling American Jewish leaders that he won't be carrying a "grand peace plan" when he arrives in the region later this month. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)AP

ASSOCIATED PRESS

March 9, 2013 12:01 AM

WASHINGTON -- With gun legislation taking shape on Capitol Hill, President Barack Obama has kept a low profile on an issue he has made a critical part of his second-term agenda.

The president has not been highly visible in the debate during the past three weeks as gun bills are being written. He's been embroiled in a budget battle that has dominated his time and for now is letting Vice President Joe Biden bang the drum for tighter firearms laws.

White House officials said the president plans to speak out on gun control as the issue moves toward a Senate vote in the coming weeks. But for now, he's staying out of delicate negotiations among lawmakers.

A White House official said Obama will be more vocal if the legislative process hits a roadblock.

The president called for a gun control vote in his State of the Union address on Feb. 12 and followed up three days later with a speech on shooting violence in his murder-plagued hometown of Chicago.

Obama has barely mentioned gun control publicly in the time since, other than during a minute of remarks Thursday, shortly after a Senate committee approved a bill to increase gun-trafficking penalties. He thanked the senators who supported it and urged other lawmakers to pass it into law.

"I urge Congress to move on other areas that have support of the American people -- from requiring universal background checks to getting assault weapons off our streets -- because we need to stop the flow of illegal guns to criminals," Obama said before signing a revitalized Violence Against Women Act. The Senate Judiciary Committee plans to resume voting on gun bills Tuesday, including an assault weapons ban and background checks that Obama wants.

Matt Bennett, spokesman for gun-control proponent Third Way, said it's good for Obama himself not to get too involved because he's seen as such a lightning rod on the issue and might stir up more opposition from Republicans.

"We don't want Republican attitudes about him to get in the way of a deal," Bennett said.